diff --git a/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/empty-module.ll b/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/empty-module.ll
--- a/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/empty-module.ll
+++ b/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/empty-module.ll
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 ; RUN: rm -f %t2.0
 ; RUN: llvm-lto2 run  %t.bc -r %t.bc,foo,pl -o %t2 -thinlto-distributed-indexes
 ; RUN: llvm-readobj -h %t2.0 | FileCheck %s
-; RUN: llvm-nm %t2.0 2>&1 | FileCheck %s -check-prefix=NO-SYMBOLS
-; NO-SYMBOLS: no symbols
+; RUN: llvm-nm %t2.0 2>&1 | count 0
 
 ; CHECK: Format: ELF64-x86-64
 
diff --git a/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/strong_non_prevailing.ll b/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/strong_non_prevailing.ll
--- a/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/strong_non_prevailing.ll
+++ b/llvm/test/ThinLTO/X86/strong_non_prevailing.ll
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 ; RUN: llvm-lto -thinlto-action=run %t.bc %t2.bc -exported-symbol=__llvm_profile_filename
 ; RUN: llvm-nm -o - < %t.bc.thinlto.o | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=EXPORTED
-; RUN: llvm-nm -o - < %t2.bc.thinlto.o 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=NOT_EXPORTED
+; RUN: llvm-nm -o - < %t2.bc.thinlto.o 2>&1 | count 0
 
 target datalayout = "e-m:e-p270:32:32-p271:32:32-p272:64:64-i64:64-f80:128-n8:16:32:64-S128"
 target triple = "x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"
@@ -13,4 +13,3 @@
 @__llvm_profile_filename = constant [19 x i8] c"default_%m.profraw\00", comdat
 
 ; EXPORTED: R __llvm_profile_filename
-; NOT_EXPORTED-NOT: R __llvm_profile_filename
diff --git a/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols-local-only.yaml b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols-local-only.yaml
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols-local-only.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+## When a file contains only local symbols the "no symbols" error should not
+## be shown, so we expect the output to be completely empty.
+# RUN: yaml2obj %s > %t.o
+# RUN: llvm-nm %t.o 2>&1 | count 0
+
+!ELF
+FileHeader:
+  Class:   ELFCLASS64
+  Data:    ELFDATA2LSB
+  Type:    ET_REL
+  Machine: EM_X86_64
+Symbols:
+  - Name:  foo.c
+    Type:  STT_FILE
+    Index: SHN_ABS
diff --git a/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols.test b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols.test
--- a/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols.test
+++ b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-nm/X86/nm-no-symbols.test
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # RUN: yaml2obj %s > %t.o
-# RUN: llvm-nm %t.o 2>&1 | FileCheck %s
-# RUN: llvm-nm --print-file-name %t.o 2>&1 | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=CHECK-PRINT-FILE-NAME
+# RUN: llvm-nm %t.o 2>&1 | FileCheck %s -DFILE=%t.o
 
 !ELF
 FileHeader:
@@ -9,6 +8,4 @@
   Type:            ET_REL
   Machine:         EM_X86_64
 
-# CHECK: {{^}}no symbols{{$}}
-
-# CHECK-PRINT-FILE-NAME: nm-no-symbols.test{{.*}}.o: no symbols{{$}}
+# CHECK: [[FILE]]: no symbols{{$}}
diff --git a/llvm/tools/llvm-nm/llvm-nm.cpp b/llvm/tools/llvm-nm/llvm-nm.cpp
--- a/llvm/tools/llvm-nm/llvm-nm.cpp
+++ b/llvm/tools/llvm-nm/llvm-nm.cpp
@@ -707,6 +707,19 @@
   return Sym.TypeChar != 'U' && Sym.TypeChar != 'w' && Sym.TypeChar != 'v';
 }
 
+static void writeFileName(raw_ostream &S, StringRef ArchiveName,
+                          StringRef ArchitectureName) {
+  if (!ArchitectureName.empty())
+    S << "(for architecture " << ArchitectureName << "):";
+  if (OutputFormat == posix && !ArchiveName.empty())
+    S << ArchiveName << "[" << CurrentFilename << "]: ";
+  else {
+    if (!ArchiveName.empty())
+      S << ArchiveName << ":";
+    S << CurrentFilename << ": ";
+  }
+}
+
 static void sortAndPrintSymbolList(SymbolicFile &Obj, bool printName,
                                    StringRef ArchiveName,
                                    StringRef ArchitectureName) {
@@ -773,24 +786,6 @@
     }
   }
 
-  auto writeFileName = [&](raw_ostream &S) {
-    if (!ArchitectureName.empty())
-      S << "(for architecture " << ArchitectureName << "):";
-    if (OutputFormat == posix && !ArchiveName.empty())
-      S << ArchiveName << "[" << CurrentFilename << "]: ";
-    else {
-      if (!ArchiveName.empty())
-        S << ArchiveName << ":";
-      S << CurrentFilename << ": ";
-    }
-  };
-
-  if (SymbolList.empty()) {
-    if (PrintFileName)
-      writeFileName(errs());
-    errs() << "no symbols\n";
-  }
-
   for (const NMSymbol &S : SymbolList) {
     uint32_t SymFlags;
     std::string Name = S.Name.str();
@@ -811,7 +806,7 @@
         (!Global && ExternalOnly) || (Weak && NoWeakSymbols))
       continue;
     if (PrintFileName)
-      writeFileName(outs());
+      writeFileName(outs(), ArchiveName, ArchitectureName);
     if ((JustSymbolName ||
          (UndefinedOnly && MachO && OutputFormat != darwin)) &&
         OutputFormat != posix) {
@@ -1208,7 +1203,7 @@
     if (Nsect == 0)
       return;
   }
-  if (!MachO || !DyldInfoOnly) {
+  if (!(MachO && DyldInfoOnly)) {
     for (BasicSymbolRef Sym : Symbols) {
       uint32_t SymFlags = Sym.getFlags();
       if (!DebugSyms && (SymFlags & SymbolRef::SF_FormatSpecific))
@@ -1738,6 +1733,12 @@
   }
 
   CurrentFilename = Obj.getFileName();
+
+  if (Symbols.empty() && SymbolList.empty()) {
+    writeFileName(errs(), ArchiveName, ArchitectureName);
+    errs() << "no symbols\n";
+  }
+
   sortAndPrintSymbolList(Obj, printName, ArchiveName, ArchitectureName);
 }